Payments & Embedded Fintech Partnerships Director

About the role:

You will own a named portfolio of large, multinational partners foundational to our payments business and be the accountable owner for each relationship, building the operating rhythm that drives measurable growth, revenue, and product impact. You will also own 8am’s embedded finance and fintech product agenda — including outgoing payments, capital lending, and credit products — driving them from strategy through launch in partnership with Product and Engineering.

This is a senior strategic individual contributor role with high visibility across 8am’s executive team, spanning both external partner relationships and internal fintech product initiatives. You’ll be the face of 8am to your partners, the owner of 8am’s embedded finance and fintech roadmap, and the internal quarterback who aligns Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Legal, Risk, Compliance, and other cross-functional teams behind a shared partner strategy.

About us:

At 8am, our vision is to power a world where professionals thrive. We start every day on a mission to empower professionals with the most trusted, innovative technology to deliver world-class outcomes for their clients and exceptional financial results for their business. They count on our purpose-built solutions to simplify operations, ensure compliance, and fuel profitable growth, so they can focus on their clients and do more of the work that matters.

Founded in 2005, 8am™ (formerly AffiniPay) is the professional business platform built to help legal, accounting, and other client-focused professionals run stronger, more profitable businesses. Today, more than 250,000 professionals across the U.S. trust 8am to help them work smarter, serve clients better, and unlock their full potential. We have been recognized as one of Inc 5000’s fastest growing companies in the U.S. for 13 years in a row, and as a result, our teams continue to grow as well!

What you'll do:

• Own and grow a portfolio of NAPI+ partners — serving as the single accountable owner for strategy, commercial outcomes, escalations, and internal/external alignment across partners such as Adyen, Affirm, Visa, sponsor banks, and other critical third parties.
• Own and scale 8am’s embedded finance and fintech product initiatives — including outgoing payments, capital lending, and credit products — as the accountable owner for strategy, roadmap, and cross-functional delivery, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Risk, and Compliance to bring new financial capabilities to market.
• Establish a world-class engagement model — architect the overarching strategy, commercial roadmaps, and QBR rhythms. Define collaborative objectives, executive reporting, and streamlined escalation protocols while fostering deep, multi-level stakeholder connectivity to accelerate partnership momentum.
• Negotiate and execute commercial agreements — including new deals, renewals, amendments, and incentive structures. Partner with Legal, Finance, and others to land economics that meaningfully improve 8am volume growth, unit economics, and unlock new capabilities.
• Drive coordinated cross-functional execution — design, advocate, and ensure partner-driven initiatives are prioritized, resourced, and delivered on plan.
• Identify and unlock new commercial and product opportunities within existing partnerships — new payment methods, fraud/risk capabilities, co-marketing, and joint go-to-market motions — and drive them from idea to launch.
• Build executive-level visibility and trust with partner leadership through top-to-top engagement, joint planning, and a consistent communication cadence.
• Measure and report on partnership performance — build the scorecards, dashboards, and operating reviews that give 8am leadership a clear view of partner health, risks, and opportunities.
• Anticipate and manage through critical events — proactively mitigate risks to core revenue streams.
• Elevate 8am’s market position through alignment with global payment leaders and joint marketing, PR, and industry visibility opportunities.

About you:

• 10–12+ years of progressive experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or commercial partner management in payments, embedded finance, or a related high-growth technology environment, including experience operating at a senior/Director level.
• Demonstrated experience owning relationships with large, multinational payments companies including one or more of: card networks, acquirers/processors, issuer-processors, BNPL or embedded finance providers, sponsor banks, etc.
• Experience with embedded finance, lending, or credit products — such as BNPL, working capital or capital lending, card issuing, or credit underwriting — including partnering with Risk, Compliance, and Legal to launch new regulated financial products, strongly preferred.
• Proven track record of leading complex commercial negotiations end-to-end and delivering measurable growth, revenue, and cost outcomes through partnerships — expanding scope, restructuring economics, and turning partner relationships into measurable product and growth wins.
• Strong commercial instincts and comfort with financial models — able to read a partner P&L impact, pressure-test interchange and revenue-share economics, and structure incentive deals in partnership with Finance.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and the ability to influence partners and internal stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent written and verbal communication — able to move from a working session with engineers to a QBR with a partner’s SVP without missing a beat.
• Highly autonomous, organized, and outcome-driven — comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-changing environments with a strong sense of ownership and urgency.
• Experience with Salesforce, Slack, Tableau or Sigma, and modern AI/productivity tools.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Finance, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
• Willingness to travel periodically (~20%) for partner meetings, on-sites, summits, and industry events.
• Legal and/or Accounting industry experience is a plus.
  
• Demonstrated experience leveraging AI tools and technologies to improve workflows, enhance decision-making, or drive innovation.

Additional Information
The annual salary range for this position is $150,000 to $175,000. The salary range for performing this role outside of the US / Austin / California may differ.  8am is committed to offering competitive, fair and commensurate compensation and has provided an estimated pay range for this role. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience and education.

Why 8am: 

At 8am, our culture is shaped by the people who bring it to life every day. Together, we build a company rooted in continuous learning, genuine community, holistic wellness, and meaningful engagement—values that empower us as individuals and unite us as a team. Our culture is grounded in our core values: Work Smart, Win Fast; Outshine Ordinary, and We Find a Way. These values drive how we serve our customers and work with each other in a collaborative, inspiring, and empowering environment, every day.

Here’s how we support our 8Team:

• Health Insurance Coverage: We offer our 8Team a variety of medical, dental, and vision plans, designed to fit your needs, including a 100% company-paid HDHP plan for employees.
• Financial perks: We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package including annual bonuses, equity options and 401(k) or RRSP if in Canada, with a company match for all team members.
• Time for what matters: Flexible Time Off, paid holidays, and a parental leave program for our new parents.
• Wellness: Wellness stipends, mental health support, and one-on-one nutrition coaching.
• Learning and Development: Continuous learning through 8am.edu, leadership programs, professional development funds, and individually focused talent development.
• Giving back to the communities around us: Participate in our charitable matching gift program, paid time off for volunteer service, and company-sponsored volunteer events (both local and virtually).
• Engagement: Virtual and in-person team-building events, quarterly award recognition through our Rise & Shine Award of Excellence Program, and our peer-to-peer appreciation platform.

At 8am, we don’t just offer benefits - we create an environment where people can thrive, grow, and make a real impact every day.

Diversity, equity & inclusion at 8am:

At 8am, we recognize that innovation occurs with a strong team of people who are diverse in background, personality, talent and ideas. Experience comes in many forms and ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace where we continue to learn from each other is an integral part of our culture. We are committed to creating a welcoming and transparent environment for all that embraces those differences through education, equal access to opportunities and information, inclusionary programs, and community outreach. 

Security advisory:

Our hiring teams at 8am are dedicated to recruiting top talent that share our passion for serving the professional services industry through innovative financial technology.  As such, our Talent Acquisition Team only follows legitimate hiring practices.  We will always communicate with our candidates using emails with the 8am domain and will never ask for sensitive/personal data during the application process.  All interviews take place over phone call, Zoom/Google Meet or in person.  All offers are communicated verbally by our Talent Acquisition Specialists with a written offer letter as a follow up.